From inside the book

LibraryThing Review

User Review - here.be.bookwyrms - LibraryThing

This textbook offers a great overview for an introductory forensic science course; every major segment of forensic science is covered to some degree - entomology, fire examination, firearms ...Read full review

LibraryThing Review

User Review - elbakerone - LibraryThing

I used this textbook for an Introduction to Forensic Science class. It was well written and easy to understand with helpful review sections for each chapter. The case study portions are also very interesting for those looking for supplemental material to forensic science studies.Read full review

About the author (1981)

Richard Saferstein, Ph.D.," retired in 1991 after serving 21 years as the Chief Forensic Scientist of the New Jersey State Police Laboratory, one of the largest crime laboratories in the United States. He currently acts as a consultant for attorneys and the media in the area of forensic science. During the O. J. Simpson criminal trial, Dr. Saferstein provided extensive commentary on forensic aspects of the case for the "Rivera Live" show, the E! television network, ABC radio, and various radio talk shows. Dr. Saferstein holds degrees from the City College of New York and earned his doctorate degree in chemistry in 1970 from the City University of New York. From 1972 to 1991, he taught an introductory forensic science course in the criminal justice programs at the College of New Jersey and Ocean County College. These teaching experiences played an influential role in Dr. Saferstein's authorship in 1977 of the widely used introductory textbook "Criminalastics: An Introduction to Forensic Science," currently in this eighth edition. Saferstein's basic philosophy in writing Criminalistics is to make forensic science understandable and meaningful to the nonscience reader, while giving the reader an appreciation for the scientific principles that underlie the subject.

Dr. Saferstein currently teaches a course on the role of the expert witness in the courtroom at the law school of Widener University in Wilmington, Delaware. He has authored or co-authored more than 35 technical papers covering a variety of forensic topics. Dr. Saferstein has co-authored "Lab Manual for Criminalistics" (Prentice Hall, 2004) to be used in conjunction with this text. He has also edited the widely usedprofessional reference books "Forensic Science Handbook," Volume I, second edition (Prentice Hall, 2002) and "Forensic Science Handbook," Volumes II and III (Prentice Hall, 1988, 1993). Dr. Saferstein is a member of the American Chemical Society, the American-Academy of Forensic Sciences, the Forensic Science Society of England, the Canadian Society of Forensic Scientists, the International Association for Identification, the Mid-Atlantic Association of Forensic Scientists, the Northeastern Association of Forensic Scientists, the Northwestern Association of Forensic Scientists, and the Society of Forensic Toxicologists.